


Make it up to you

by orphan_account



Category: High School Musical: The Musical: The Series (TV)
Genre: Dancing, First Kiss, Getting Together, Homecoming, M/M, Soft Boys
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-05
Updated: 2020-05-05
Packaged: 2021-03-02 21:33:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,012
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24023650
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: “Can I make it up to you? We could, um, go for coffee at Starbucks or- or whatever you want, really,” he finished, hoping his cheeks weren’t as red as they felt. He’d asked Carlos out. Officially.“You mean, like, on a date?” Carlos asked, his voice breaking a little. Seb bit his lip and nodded.“If that’s okay, then yeah,” he confirmed, watching Carlos’s face for a reaction.Carlos beamed at him.
Relationships: Seb Matthew-Smith/Carlos Rodriguez
Comments: 8
Kudos: 49





	Make it up to you

Seb had done it. After all his fretting in the car and his fear that Carlos wouldn’t even still be at homecoming thanks to his lateness, Seb had stepped inside the school hall and danced with another boy in front of the rest of the school. He’d _done it_.

He glanced to his side, where Carlos was already looking at him. When their eyes met, Carlos quickly looked away, though, and Seb couldn’t help but blush and smile at the action. The choreographer was criminally cute and Seb could barely believe Carlos had been the one to ask _him_ to homecoming. Seb never would have had the guts to.

Now they were both there and they’d danced and Seb’s heart hadn’t pounded that hard in his chest in years, possibly ever. He really liked Carlos. It was ridiculous to think that they’d only properly gotten to know each other since they started rehearsing for the musical. Sure, they’d shared some classes before and Seb was pretty sure they’d talked a few times when they were together in a group project for biology last year, but they’d never been anything more past the odd speculation on Seb’s behalf that Carlos was kind of cute.

Seb knew that Carlos was so much more than ‘kind of cute’ now, though, and he couldn’t let the night end without admitting to Carlos how much all of this really meant to him. If Carlos was brave enough to ask him to the dance, Seb could be brave enough to ask him on a date. And he really should apologise properly for his lateness.

“Hey,” Seb said softly, grabbing Carlos’s attention away from the drink he’d been examining intently after Seb had caught him watching him.

“Hey,” Carlos echoed, “is everything okay?”

“Better, actually,” Seb smiled, “but I was just wondering if I could talk to you, actually. Somewhere a bit more private than this.”

Carlos’s eyes glanced across the table to where Big Red, Ashlyn and EJ were sitting and talking. Gina and Ricky’s seats were empty due to the two’s strange disappearance. Seb honestly had no idea what had been going on with them all evening, and apparently Carlos didn’t either when he’d asked, earlier.

“Yeah, yeah, absolutely,” Carlos agreed, wiping his hands on his trousers and standing up sort of abruptly. He was usually so graceful that Seb couldn’t help but smile at his sudden clumsiness. It was adorable.

Seb got to his feet, too, and upon realising that it had been his suggestion to go somewhere else, he took a deep breath, reached out for Carlos’s hand and pulled him along.

To Seb’s relief, Carlos immediately gripped his hand back and jogged a little to catch up.

“Where are we going?” Carlos asked. That was a good question. Seb didn’t actually know.

“You’ll see,” he smirked at Carlos. The other boy seemed to flush a bit and Seb was pretty sure he hadn’t been caught for having no clue where he was actually heading.

Because Seb had been far too focussed on the fact that he was holding Carlos’s hand than where they were going, he shouldn’t have been surprised when he opened the door and the two of them were in the rehearsal room.

“Think anyone else will come in here?” Seb asked Carlos as he closed the door.

“Well,” Carlos considered, releasing his hand from Seb’s now they were inside (Seb missed the warmth on his palm already), “Miss Jen and Nini aren’t here, Ricky and Gina left and all the others are still enjoying Homecoming. I can’t see anyone interrupting.”

“Good, great, that’s… that’s good to hear,” Seb stammered out, realising just how nervous he felt around Carlos now that they weren’t dancing and the two of them were alone.

“So, what did you want to talk about?” Carlos asked, taking a step towards Seb. Surprisingly, it calmed him a little. It was strange- Carlos was the cause of his nerves but seemingly the solution, too.

“I wanted to apologise properly for being so late,” Seb started. The safe topic first- that was easier to do, “we’ve lost cows before but my sister was supposed to be driving me to homecoming and it was her favourite cow so we were all a bit distressed trying to comfort her.”

“It’s really okay. I’m not upset at you for being late- especially now I know why you couldn’t text, too,” Carlos jumped in, taking both of Seb’s hands just as Seb had done on the dance floor.

“You just seemed a little mad at me. I didn’t want to have, y’know, ruined my chances,” Seb breathed out with a laugh. Carlos smiled up at him.

“I didn’t mean to be so sharp. It wasn’t you I was upset with. It’s just, well, I’d spent all afternoon working myself up to dance with you in front of everyone. It was a bit of a big deal to me, so then when you weren’t there it just felt like all the stress had been for nothing. But then you did show up, and we danced in front of everyone and no one even looked at me strangely! It was great,” Carlos explained.

Seb grinned at him.

“It was great,” he agreed, “and I know what you mean. I’d been so nervous when I was getting ready to come but then we found a dead cow and I sort of forgot to panic about dancing. The only thing I was worried about was that I’d upset you. I didn’t care about anyone else in that hall and what they thought of me dancing with another boy.”

“Feel like you could do the Bop to the Top dance better now you’ve had an extra rehearsal?” Carlos asked with a big smile, stepping away from Seb and bouncing over to the CD player.

“Right now? In our homecoming suits?” Seb asked with a laugh. Carlos shrugged his shoulders.

“Why not?”

With an exasperated head shake, Seb extended his hand.

“Let’s go,” he agreed.

Carlos hit play and the instrumental filled the room. Seb got into position as Carlos reached his side and the two began to dance. After spending all evening with Carlos, it felt even more natural to dance with the other boy at his side. The two moved together seamlessly, becoming one with the music. 

Seb wished that he’d felt this way in every play he’d been in. He’d never had a dance partner as talented (or attractive) as Carlos, though. A small part of him wished it was Carlos he got to actually do this dance with during the show, but he quickly crushed it when realising that would mean Carlos would have to play the role of his brother.

“See,” Carlos said when the dance finished, twirling Seb under his arm unnecessarily, “you’ve basically perfected it now.”

“Only thanks to you. You’re incredible,” Seb said breathlessly, falling back into Carlos’s arms as he finished twirling, slightly dizzy and out of breath.

“You really think so?” Carlos asked, his eyes wide as if he didn’t believe Seb. Seb nodded insistently. Carlos was the best dancer he’d ever met.

The two stood there for a little, Seb still sort of leaning on Carlos’s chest and Carlos with his arms around him. Carlos’s face was really close to Seb’s. If Seb wanted to, he could lean in and-

“I still feel bad about arriving so late,” Seb spluttered out before he could do something impulsive that he’d regret later. Carlos stood up a little straighter and Seb took his body weight off him, putting more distance between the two boys.

“I already told you, it’s really okay,” Carlos explained, but Seb surged on.

“Can I make it up to you? We could, um, go for coffee at Starbucks or- or whatever you want, really,” he finished, hoping his cheeks weren’t as red as they felt. He’d asked Carlos out. _Officially_.

“You mean, like, on a _date_?” Carlos asked, his voice breaking a little. Seb bit his lip and nodded.

“If that’s okay, then yeah,” he confirmed, watching Carlos’s face for a reaction.

Carlos _beamed_ at him.

“Yes! Why would it _not_ be okay?” he asked, and before Seb could register what was happening, Carlos’s arms were wrapped around him. Seb nearly fell over at the sudden impact, but quickly regained his balance and hugged Carlos back.

“I didn’t know if you felt the same way about me,” Seb admitted.

“I asked you to homecoming,” Carlos pointed out.

“But I didn’t know if that was just as, like, friends,” Seb blushed, leaning his cheek against Carlos’s hair.

“You flirted with me. And we held hands. Had you really not known I liked you after all of that?” Carlos laughed gently. Seb felt the laugh ripple through him from where their chests were connected.

“I mean, I was hoping you did but I didn’t want to assume and be heartbroken when you turned me down,” Seb admitted, finally pulling back from the hug so that he could see Carlos’s face again.

“Who could ever turn _you_ down?” Carlos asked with a soft look on his face. Seb felt his cheeks flushing at the compliment. And he opened his mouth to respond only to find that he didn’t actually have anything else to say. He was too busy flickering his eyes to Carlos’s mouth, which was curled up into a smile. If Carlos liked him back, maybe he’d be allowed to.

“Can I-“ Seb started to say just as Carlos also spoke up.

“Oh, sorry, my phone’s ringing!” 

Seb nodded his head and took a step back so that Carlos could pull his phone out and answer it.

He answered in Spanish, so Seb assumed it was a family member. Probably someone coming to collect Carlos. The dance was over, after all. Still, Seb had a date with Carlos, now _and_ he knew that the other boy _like_ -liked him.

“That was my mom,” Carlos said once he’d hung up, “she’s here to collect me.”

“I guess I’ll see you tomorrow, then,” Seb smiled, trying to hide his disappointment that Carlos was leaving.

Carlos nodded his head and smiled but didn’t make any move to leave the room. Instead, he took a few steps forward until he was directly in front of Seb again.

“You, um, you can, by the way,” Carlos said. Seb looked at him in confusion.

“What?” he asked.

“What you were about to ask earlier,” Carlos explained, slipping his hand into Seb’s yet again, “my answer is yes.”

And Seb understood now.

“Oh,” he breathed out before taking a deep breath, placing his free hand on Carlos’s cheek and leaning forward to connect their lips.

Carlos let out a small gasp under Seb’s lips before leaning into him and kissing back, snaking his hands around the back of Seb’s neck. Seb moved his own hand into Carlos’s hair as the hand Carlos had been holding found his waist.

Seb had no idea if what he was doing was right because he’d never actually kissed anyone before, but moving his lips slowly against Carlos’s certainly felt right and the other boy didn’t seem to be complaining.

When the two broke away for air, Carlos pulled back, much to Seb’s chagrin.

“I really do have to go. My mom will kill me if I’m late. Thank you for tonight. It was… _really_ good,” Carlos gasped, running a hand through his hair to neaten it where Seb had destroyed it.

“Yeah,” Seb agreed, “it was pretty great. Thank you for inviting me.”

Carlos gave him another smile.

“See you tomorrow,” he said, before turning on his heels and all but skipping out of the door. Seb watched him leave with a grin on his face.

He was glad no one was around to see him fist-pump the air and spin around giddily.

And Ashlyn wasn’t going to mention that she’d come down to check where he was once she saw Carlos leave. What Seb didn’t know couldn’t hurt him.

**Author's Note:**

> I didn't expect to become so obsessed with HSMTMTS but here we are. Seblos rights. Hope you enjoyed this!


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